


Christmas secret santa 2018

by starspawnedwarlock



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Christmas, Christmas Fluff, Christmas Party, Christmas Presents, F/F, F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-19
Updated: 2019-01-19
Packaged: 2019-10-12 11:08:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,191
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17466419
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starspawnedwarlock/pseuds/starspawnedwarlock
Summary: It's all in the title





	Christmas secret santa 2018

 John groaned as he sat up in the bed, throwing his legs over the side. Rubbing the sleep from his eyes, he shook the fog of tiredness from his head and reached for his glasses. He glanced to the spot beside him, before doing a double take. He raised his eyebrow, seeing that Vriska was not there. If she was up, he must have slept in. Yawning and stretching, he rose from the bed. He looked around the room, seeing the slightly messy floor, few decorations thrown about, but no sign of her.

 Apprehensive, he moved to the en-suite. Giving himself a goofy smile in the mirror, he took a drink from the faucet, refreshing his parched throat, before quickly rinsing it out. He took a moment to fix his hair to at least a resemblance of what it usually was. Satisfied, he went back to his room, looked around once more then left for the living room. He caught sight of the clock as he was leaving, and furrowed his brows. It was half six. He didn’t sleep in. In fact this was several hours earlier than when he normally got up.

 Scratching his head as he went down the long corridor, John wondered the reasons for Vriska’s early rise. Perhaps it was nightmares. But then again, she usually inadvertently woke him at those times, prompting him to comfort her. If it wasn’t that, then what was it? Passing by the shared room of Equius and Nepeta, he stopped. He could hear the bluebloods snores (or whinnies, as the others would often call them). Equius would usually be up at this time, already practicing his morning work outs. This was bordering on creepy.

 A thought occurred to John as he finally reached the end of the corridor. The only reason Equius slept in was if he had stayed up far too late. But that only happened on the most extreme occasions. Such as his or Nepeta’s birthday, Halloween, or… Wait. If that was last night… then today is…

 “Merry Christmas John!”

 Vriska yelled as she jumped towards him. He barely had time to raise his arms and catch her as she impacted, wrapping her arms around him. He took a few steps back to prevent himself from falling backwards as she buried her face in his neck, cackling. John couldn’t help but laugh as well, holding the girl close.

 “Merry Christmas to you too Vriska!”

 She smiled as she leaned back, held up by John’s arms, and her legs wrapped around his waist. John snorted when he saw her, having a length of blue tinsel hanging from her horns. She was smiling widely, her sharp fangs on intimidating display. It was adorable in a way. It was then that he caught sight of what she was wearing.

 “Vriska,” he started, not sure if he could believe it. “Is that an ugly sweater?” The girl grinned in response.

 “Well, what do you think?”

 It was cerulean, of course, and covered in white designs across the entire front. There were patterns of spider webs stretching from one side to another, with a line of eight large eights in the middle row. A few large patterned spiders were dotted about, making the theme ever more obvious.

 “I have to admit,” John chuckled. “That is quite hideous.”

 Vriska pumped her fist in victory. “Yessssssss!” She hugged John once more before letting herself down onto the ground. Sniffing the air, John smiled as he caught the aroma of breakfast. An aroma that smelled slightly…

 “Vriska.” He nodded his head to the kitchen door. After a moment of confusion, a panicked expression took her face, as she rushed back in. Still chuckling, John followed her into the room, from when the smell of burning food was coming. 

 “Shit! Shit! Shit! Shit! Shit! Shit! Shit! Shit!”” She swore rather excessively as she tended to the cooking, quickly removing the smoking French Toast from the pan. John noticed the smoke getting ominously close to the alarm, and quickly moved over to open the window while his girlfriend worked to salvage what she could. He smiled as he looked outside, seeing the vast expanse of snow covering the city, a thick blanket of white over everything in the artificial light from the countless lamps lined along the roads.

 Seeing that Vriska had managed to extricate the burning food from the pan, John looked around the kitchen. It too was decorated, with tinsel, white felt made to look like snow, candles, and baubles hanging from the ceiling. It was quite festive.

 “There we go!” She cackled triumphantly. “I only burnt them slightly!”

 John laughed at that, moving over to where she stood at the cooker. True, they weren’t the most burnt pieces of food he had ever seen. That record still went to the time Karkat and Dave decided they would cook. They had just ordered a takeaway that night, much to the dismay of Equius.

 “These mine?” John inquired, pointing to the plate that Vriska was now covering with syrup.

 The troll nodded, the tinsel in her horns swaying as she did. “While you eat go wake the others so I can replicate my awesome success.”

 The boy grinned. “You sure you don’t want me to handle that?”

 Vriska shook her head quickly. “No, I got this. This shit is mine.”

 Shaking his head, John left the kitchen after grabbing a fork, heading down to the hallway once again. There were several doors on each side. He decided he might as well start with the ones who would get up the quickest. Taking a quick bite from his toast, he placed down the fork, and knocked on the door of Equius and Nepeta’s room. He could still hear Equius snoring. Knocking a bit harder, he heard a tiny yawn just above it, before a high pitched voice called out.

 “Who is it?” Nepeta questioned.

 “It’s John, uh, check the date!” He kept his voice low enough to not wake any others.

 The Egbert heard the scrambling and climbing as Nepeta moved from her top bunk down to the floor. There was a slight pause, before a high pitched squeal of excitement. He could hear her quickly trying to wake Equius as he moved on, taking another bite from his toast.

 Next up was Roxy and Jane’s room. He gave a few quick raps with his knuckle, and heard some movement within. There was a loud slam of something hitting a wall, followed by a quiet, tired, “ow”, before the door opened slightly, showing Roxy’s smiling face.

 “Eyy, Johnny boy, wassup?” Their smile was lazy, their eyes were still drooping, and they looked in real danger of nodding off, although that was Roxy’s expression even when they were at their most hyper.

 “Morning Roxy, you got up rather quickly.” The Lalonde just shrugged in response.

 “Very well then, I suppose I should wish you a merry Christmas!”

 Roxy thought for a moment, before their smile widened. “Wait, wait, wait here,” they giggled before retreating back into the room, leaving the door open a crack. There were a few awkward seconds of John standing at the door, before Roxy returned with a Santa hat perched on their head, with a white beard attached. They giggled and reached out, hugging John.

 “Merry Christmas boy!”

 After a quick laugh, Roxy nodded to him, retreating back into their room. “I’m just going to wake Janey! We’ll be out in a few minutes!”

 Shaking his head while smiling, John went to the next door. He knocked on it a few times, but no reply. Raising his hand again, the Egbert turned his head down the hall, to where one of the doors was opening. From within came the darting shape of a small troll girl, pouncing over to John. Nepeta attached herself to John’s side, still squealing. A large leering figure followed her out, almost having to duck to get out of the door.

 He was carefully placing his glasses upon his face, concealing the eyes that looked like they hadn’t seen sleep in years. John couldn’t help but feel a measure of unease around the large troll, who stretched in the doorway as Nepeta’s surprising strength began to cut of circulation to his leg with her death-grip. Giving her head an awkward pat, John tried to prise her from his side.

 “Nepeta, please.” Equius spoke curtly, the faintest smile on his lips from seeing his moirail’s antics.

 Grinning, Nepeta removed herself. “Sorry John, but Mewrry Christmas!”

 The Egbert laughed a bit. “Merry Christmas Nepeta! And you too Equius, there’s no need to hug me though.” The blueblood gave him a polite bow.

 “Much the same greetings to you, Jonathan, and do not worry, I did not plan of showing affection through physical contact.” John was glad.

 “Vriska is in the kitchen making some breakfast, so if you’re hungry you should head there, we can open the presents after everyone is awake.” He gave them the rundown, turning back to the door.

 “Ah, good, I find myself most famished.” John wasn’t sure how Vriska would react to her first partaker being the unrelenting appetite of the Zahhak.

 Just as he prepared to knock on the door again, the door next to it opened. Looking over, John saw a frowning Sollux staring at him. Before John could speak, Aradia’s smiling head appeared above him.

 “Merry Christmas!” Aradia yelled excitedly, her beaming smile filling her face.

 John returned the greeting, then looked to Sollux, who gave a tired nod that could be loosely translated to “hey man”.

 “Have the festivities commenced yet?” John shook his head.

 “Not yet, don’t worry, we won’t start until everyone is up and ready.”

 “Does that mean I can sleep more?” Sollux enquired, rubbing his eyes. Aradia answered for him, wrapping her arms around his neck.

 “No silly, it’s time to celebrate!” Aradia laughed, pushing Sollux out of the room.

 “AA wait I’m not dressed yet!” He protested, trying to cover his bee themed pyjamas as she ushered him out.

 “Time waits for no one!” The Captor frowned as he was made to move down the corridor by Aradia, who was wearing pyjamas closely resembling her god tier garbs.

 John laughed at the sight, then at the sound of Vriska’s yell from the kitchen.

 “Gogdamnit, I am NOT making them in the shape of horse hooves! Don’t sweat on the table!”

 Wondering what was going on in the kitchen, John took a few more bites from his toast, then finally returned to knocking on the door. There was still no reply. Deciding that he would wake the last pair before resorting to the more… extreme measures, he moved to the last door, and gave a quick knock.

 There was a faint noise from within, before the door opened slowly, revealing a tall troll looking down upon him. Kanaya leaned against the end of the open door, a welcoming smile greeting him.

 “Ah, John, good morning, why do you wake us at this hour?”

 “Because, Miss Maryam,” John drew out his words, bowing slightly, before throwing his arms in the arm. “It’s Christmas!”

 Kanaya looked confused for a moment, before the recollection took her. “Oh yes, the human celebration. Give me but a moment, I’ll wake Rose.” She turned back into the room.

 “Rose, honey, wake up, it’s your winter celebratory day!” This was answered by a long series of tired groans and moaning, some of which John would guess were intended to be understandable words.

 The door to Roxy and Jane’s room opened once more, and Roxy emerged dragging Jane along behind them. They gave fingers guns and a wink to John, and set off to the Kitchen. Jane followed behind, waving to John, and giggling slightly.

 “Merry Christmas!”

 Shaking his head while a chuckle, John turned back to the door, and from within the room he saw Rose. She was standing stock still, staring at him with the most truly exhausted expression he had even seen on a person, human or otherwise. She looked beyond miserable, as if she knew some great and terrible secret that she must live with. In other words, it was her usual morning face.

 She was ushered over to the wardrobe by Kanaya, who waved to John.

 “We’ll be out soon don’t worry. You just wake up the boys.”

 He nodded in agreement, and went back to the stubborn sleepers’ door. Time to employ the drastic measures. Raising up his hand, he balled it into a fist. He couldn’t keep the grin from his face as he hammered on the door as hard as he could.

 “Wake up sleepyheads!”

 He hit the door a few more times, then paused for a second. There was a long, annoyed yell from the room. Then another. John waited three yells and an entire minute before the door opened, revealing a hunched Dave Strider, readjusting his shades.

 “Bro… Bro… No… Why would you do this?”

 “Cause it’s Christmas cool guy.”

 “That, doesn’t make this better John, this is some wild Caesar shit. Et tu John, et tu?”

 “Whatever you say Dave, just make sure you and-” John heard another yell, this one much louder. “-him, get up soon, Christmas stuff is starting, and we gotta wait for you.”

 Dave merely groaned sounds resembling “alright”, then closed his door. The Strilondes were really not morning people.

 John went back to the kitchen, finding everyone spread out across the room, most holding plates in their hands. Most were finding subdued amusement in the efforts of Vriska, who was at this point near sweating with her concentration on the pan. John opted to help her as the final four trickled in.

 There were a few light hearted conversations between the pairs, ones that soon evolved to include others, until true mingling finally occurred. John walked by a conversation consisting of Roxy, Equius and Kanaya while bringing two plates of food to the two newcomers. Karkat seemed just as tired as Dave was. Both of them would have much preferred to be in bed. There was Christmas music playing in the background, the song chosen by Roxy specifically, who made sure their conversation was right beside the sound system.

Many of the household got a good kick out of Vriska’s horn decoration, as she toiled over the pan, trying to keep up with the numbers. After twenty or so minutes she managed to get a plate for herself, although she made sure to sing her own praises the entire time while eating. None of them paid any heed, save for John, who couldn’t help smiling.

 The eventually all moved into the living room, all scattered around, most sitting in their pairs. Dave was huddled up to Karkat, who was grinding his teeth as per usual. Nepeta was sitting on Equius’ shoulders, eyeing the presents underneath the tree with an animalistic hunger. Kanaya was sitting straight with a cup of coffee in her hands, while Rose was cuddled up beside her, a cup in her own hands. Aradia and Sollux were sharing a seat, or more Sollux was sitting on as well as acting as a chair. Aradia was nestled in his lap, leaning back to rest her head beside his. Jane was sitting on the carpeted floor, and leaning against the side of chair, while Roxy sat forward, as excited as Nepeta to see the gifts. Vriska was sitting on the arm of the chair couch nearest to the tree, watching John, who was beginning to dig through the presents.

 He pulled out a moderately sized one, checking the tag on top. The wrapping was covered in paw prints, and everyone looked over to Nepeta as she grinned mischievously.

 “From Nep, to the beast Meowrail ever!” John read aloud. “I don’t know how to emphasise over ten exclamation points so uh, I’m guessing this is for you Eq?”

 Equius looked ever so apprehensive as he leaned forward, not showing any strain of holding his moirail on his shoulders. He took the present gently in his hands, the strain of trying to be as gentle as possible showing easily on his face. He held the package aloft slightly, before raising it.

 “Nepeta, would you be as kind as to assist me in this unveiling?” Equius enquired, blushing blue slightly.

 Nepeta merely smiled, reaching down from his shoulders to undo the ribbon, and whipping away the lid. Equius raised an eyebrow when he saw what was inside.

 “Go on, take it. It won’t break… I think.” The Leijon spoke with a hint of uncertainty in her voice.

 Reaching out, Equius revealed what was in the box. It was an indigo ball, just bigger than his fist. He winced as the ball compressed with an accidental excess of strength, before returning his eyebrow to its high resting place.

 “Try and crush it!” Nep could hardly contain her excitement.

 “Are, you sure… I don’t want to break your gift Nepeta.”

 “Do it!”

 Shrugging, Equius applied the force. Contrary to his doubts, the ball did not break, but instead moulded around his hand as he squeezed. He applied more and more, before releasing it.

 “I cannot destroy it.” He sounded somewhat shocked.

 “It’s a stress ball! Jade made it! Now when I’m not here and mew get frustrated, mew can use this instead of breaking stuff!”

 A wide, broken smile spread across the Zahhak’s face. A greater blue blush filled his cheeks, and John smiled along with the rest of the room.

 “Thank you Nepeta, this is an exceedingly amazing gift. Thank you.”

 Nepeta squealed in response, hugging Equius’ head below her. She dissolved into fits of happy giggles as John reached for the next present.

 This one was considerably larger, needing John to use both arms, and was addressed to “the grouchy fucker” from “the inexplicably cool and awesome time player”.

 John looked between Sollux and Karkat. Dave gave a slight wave.

 Handing it over, Karkat tore open the present with his vigour, and his eyes went wide after looking in. John saw the smug smile on Dave’s face. Reaching in, Karkat pulled out a book. Then another. Then another. He pushed over the box, and out spilled over a dozen books, with double that still within.

 “Merry Christmas bro, heard you like shitty romance novels.”

 Karkat just stared at the books.

 “I couldn’t decide which few to get you, so I just, uh, bought ‘em all. Cause the Striders don’t give less than 100%, ever, we keep that shit full throttle, it ain’t ever-” Dave was interrupted by Karkat grabbing him in a sudden hug, not saying anything. Dave’s smile went from smug to almost sincere.

 There was a resounding “aw” as John went for the next gift.

 This one was pink, and had symbols of cat heads patterned over it. Roxy grinned, and needlessly indicated that it was for Jane. The Crocker meticulously opened the present, managing to undo Roxy’s “un-undoable” knot. She laughed as she produced a set of old style detective garments, followed by a set of detective’s gear. She beamed and leaned over to Roxy, kissing their cheek.

 The next gift was Dave’s, a small stack wrapped in plain red paper. Tearing it open, the Strider’s mouth opened slightly in surprise. There was the entirety of the current Sweet bro and hella Jeff comic, in a physical form. Dave trailed his hand down the cover.

 “This is so damn ironic… and sweet.”

 The gifts kept coming for a while, dispersing at a considerable pace. Everyone was too impatient to continue one by one.

 Rose received a newly tailored dress, which Kanaya claimed was her best work. Rose resolved to wear it once the Christmas dinner began. From others she got some Lovecraftian fiction, a number of notebooks and pens, and a large painting of a wizard, compliments of Rolal.

 Kanaya was gifted a mountain of crafting supplies, plants and blood-drinker themed novels. Her gift from Rose was a novel authored by her, perfectly tailored to her tastes (Rose assured her that both puns in the explanation were intended).

 From Jane Roxy received a small payload of games, spanning generations of consoles. They cackled with delight, hugging a great mass of them. Jane giggled beside them.

 Aradia gifted Sollux a new type of hardware utilising her powers over time, making it run at what he referred to as “a fucking ridiculous speed”. Expressing concern that his gift may not equal hers, Sollux brought out a ram skull, decorated with carved designs and symbols.

 “It’s a bit morbid, but I figured you’d like it.” Aradia responded by leaping onto him, and peppering his face with kisses.

 Nepeta was showered in gifts from everyone, and was off in her own corner opening them, with Equius presiding over her with a smile. Her gift from the Zahhak was a robotic cat, something he had been working on in secret for a considerable amount of time, according to him. It had taken some thinking to get the mannerisms of such creatures into his technology.

 Last up was John and Vriska. She presented him with an obscene amount of Nic Cage paraphernalia, cut outs, DVDs, posters, limited edition collectible figures (that was what he called them, she preferred the term: toys).

 John grinned shyly as he gestured towards one of the last presents under the tree. Vriska gave him a suspicious smile, reaching down to take the present. It was a smaller box that most of the others, with Egbertian blue wrapping paper, and a cerulean ribbon. Vriska narrowed her eyes at him as she removed the wrapping.

 Glancing up at him with a smile, she removed the lid, and John saw her expression grow soft for a moment, although slightly bemused. She produced a thick notebook from the box. It was decorated with doodles and small craftwork attack. There were spiders, Scorpio symbols and pirate themed objects drawn in cerulean. She had a soft smile as she read the word emblazoned on the front in John’s best possible handwriting.

_“Reasons why John Egbert loves Vriska Serket!”_

 Vriska slowly opened the first page, and saw big cerulean letters surrounded by doodles.

  _She is so damn cool!_

 She turned the page.

_She’s determined as heck!_

She turned the page.

_(Like, really determined. It’s scary sometimes but IT’S GREAT!!!!)_

 Vriska covered her mouth as she read. John was about to say something, before she rushed forward, pulling him into a death-grip with her arms. She gave a long kiss to his cheek, before returning to suffocating him in a hug.

 “Thank you, so much, I love you.” She whispered into his ear, as he returned the hug.

 After all the presents had been given, they spent some time there, relaxing, talking, and enjoying the holiday spirit while the music played in the background, and the floor was littered with wrapping paper. Equius broke apart some logs to better fit them into the fireplace, while Sollux lit them aflame. After a few minutes the fire was crackling, and Nepeta and Roxy were close, Nepeta curled up while Roxy hung upside down from the chair. Most of the couples were huddled together, while John sat with Vriska sitting across him. They would sit there for some time, enjoying the heat and warmth of both the fire and each other, and the love that permeated the room.

 Rose, Vriska, Kanaya and John did, after a few hours, rise to cook the Christmas dinner, smiling and laughing at the jokes and cheer than could be heard from the living room. One of the four would occasionally go back into the room for a status check, informing their housemates of the progress. John would find Karkat engrossed in his reading, while Dave rested his head on the Cancer’s lap, reading SBaHJ. Jane was dressed in her detective gear, checking out the uses of the items Roxy had gifted her. Nepeta eventually ended up curled up in Equius’ lap, who looked more relaxed and carefree than John had ever seen him. Sollux was checking out the hardware given to him, while Aradia rested against him, watching with pleased interest.

 Soon enough dinner was prepared, and they all sat, eating their fill. It was a merry time, each enjoying the traditional Christmas feast (save for Equius, who preferred naught but vegetable matter).

 After the dinner, they all returned to the living room, and continued their festive activities, that soon became relaxed, and eventually reduced to everyone reclining, or outright asleep.

 John felt an overwhelming feeling of happiness take him, as he sat on the couch, Vriska sprawled dramatically over his lap in her sleep. He could see all the others, enjoying their first Christmas as a group. With a careful hand, he took away the tinsel in her horns, and adjusted her slightly so her sleep would be better. He smiled when he noticed she still held the notebook in her arms, clutching it tightly to her chest. It was adorable.

 John sighed in happiness as he leaned back. It had been a good day. A good Christmas.


End file.
